Despite now being under the ownership of the typically family-friendly Walt Disney Company after purchasing 20th Century Fox and all its assets, Hulu has not been pulling its punches when it comes to the world of horror. Just this year, Hulu released the anticipated Predator prequel Prey (2022), which has since earned enormous praise from fans and critics alike in addition to becoming Hulu's most viewed original film premiere ever. Prey has been nearly universally recognized as the best film in the long-running series since the original 1987 film, and come this October, Hulu will be reviving another beloved franchise known for its pension for pain and suffering. Hellraiser (1987), the sadistic brainchild of acclaimed author Clive Barker, was an instant horror cult classic upon its release, bringing the hell priest known as Pinhead and his gang of Cenobites into the pantheon of horror movie killers. However, Hellraiser is not an entertaining slasher like the Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises. It's a dark, disturbing, methodical look into the dangers of pleasure derived from pain, with goofy and cartoonish kills being replaced by some excellently crafter practical body horror. The first film was a decent success, quadrupling its million-dollar budget in addition to becoming a favorite for fans of the genre. Ultimately the film spawned a very long-running franchise with a whopping nine sequels, three of which were theatrical with the other six being straight to video.
Now, Hulu is ready to bring the Cenobites back to the screen, with a new film simply titled Hellraiser (2022). A new higher budget feature film in the Hellraiser has been in development hell so to speak for an incredibly long time, with filmmakers being attached to the helm the project going back to as far as 2007. Despite being roughly a month away, details, and even footage for that matter, have been shrouded in mystery, but that doesn't mean the upcoming reboot is a complete puzzle. So join us in our attempt to solve this Lament Configuration as we list everything we know so far about Hulu's Hellraiser.

Official Trailer:


The new iteration of the Hellraiser will be screaming its way onto Hulu just in time for Halloween, with the anticipated horror reboot officially premiering on October 7th exclusively on Hulu.
The jury is still out on whether this will take place in the same established Hellraiser continuity of the previous ten films or will start completely from scratch, but the concept of a "requel" isn't unheard of in the realm of horror. Halloween, Candyman, and even Terminator (yes it counts as horror) are just some of the major franchises that kept the first film canonical while erasing some if not all the other sequels.
We do have an official synopsis for the film that reads as follows:

"In this reimagining of Clive Barker's seminal Hellraiser franchise, a young woman must confront the sadistic, supernatural forces behind an enigmatic puzzlebox responsible for her brother's disappearance."

Since the film's cast list currently consists of actors who are completely new to the franchise, the idea that this could be a clean slate is entirely possible, but we'll more than likely have to wait until the film releases to find out if this new film will fit into the current timeline or start a completely new one.

Arguably the biggest piece of news that we have on the new Hellraiser at this point in time is who will be playing Pinhead (which by the way is a name that creator Clive Barker hates, preferring the title of Hell Priest), and the horror icon will be played this time by Sense8 star Jamie Clayton, making this the first time that a woman has donned the iconic pins. This isn't the first time that the role of Pinhead has been recast. The original and most recognizable Pinhead actor is easily Doug Bradley, who played the character in nearly every Hellraiser film aside from the most recent two. Stephen Smith Collins (Criminal Minds) played Pinhead in Hellraiser: Revelations (2011) and Paul T. Taylor (Super) played the part in Hellraiser: Judgment (2018).
Ever since whispers of a new Hellraiser film started in 2007, several filmmakers have been attached to take on the legendary series. Some names include the directing pair behind Leatherface (2017) Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury and Martyrs director Pascal Laugier. Years later and the person who ultimately chooses to helm the project is none other than David Bruckner; a director with plenty of experience in the horror space with hits like V/H/S (2012), The Ritual (2017), and The Night House (2020). Bruckner will also be reteaming with screenwriters Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski whom he worked with on The Night House, along with a story by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight).

Source from Collider.com by Aidan Kelley